Device for guiding a brochure from a stock-piling device to a brochure conveying device

ABSTRACT

A transfer device for package inserts is disposed between a brochure device and a brochure conveyor system has two pairs of two conveyor belts each. To enable ejection of defective package inserts two of the conveyor belts are disposed pivotably by means of a lever, in order to form an alternative conveyor path that transfers the defective package inserts into a discard bin. The transfer device of the invention makes early ejection of defective package inserts from a cardboard box-making machine possible.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to an apparatus for delivering a brochure from amagazine system to a brochure conveyor system, as generically defined bythe preamble to claim 1.

In a known apparatus of this type, the individual brochures or packageinserts, once they have been folded, are gradually withdrawn from thebrochure device and delivered by means of belts to a brochure conveyorsystem which has tongs and unites the folded brochures with a packagedproduct that is then inserted along with the brochure into a foldingbox. During operation, it may happen that a brochure has not been foldedcorrectly, or for other reasons it may become necessary to eject thebrochure over its further course or travel, to prevent the defectivebrochure from being slipped into a cardboard box together with thepackaged product. As a rule, this ejection takes place in the region ofthe brochure conveyor system, before the defective brochure is puttogether with the packaged product or the folding box.

Conversely, it would be desirable to have an apparatus in which theejection of a defective brochure takes place as early as possible, sothat as needed, instead of the defective brochure, an error-freebrochure can be furnished immediately, so as not to impede the furthercourse of work in the packaging process.

Although that another apparatus is already known in which the ejectionof a defective brochure already takes place in the brochure device, thefunctional reliability and space requirements of this known apparatusare unsatisfactory.

ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION

The apparatus of the invention for delivering a brochure from a magazinesystem to a brochure conveyor system, having the definitivecharacteristics of claim 1, has the advantage over the prior art that adefective brochure can be ejected immediately after it has beenwithdrawn from the brochure device. As a result, on the one hand, amistake in folding can be detected very quickly, since the defectivebrochure is ejected over the shortest possible course, and on the other,interruptions in operation, which can for instance happen if a pluralityof defective brochures are processed immediately one after the other areavoided. According to the invention, this attained essentially byproviding that the apparatus that has withdrawal and transfer belts hasan ejection position, in which at least one withdrawal and transfer beltis pivotable out of its normal operating position, so that the defectivebrochure can be ejected before it is delivered to the brochure conveyorsystem.

Advantageous refinements of the apparatus according to the invention fordelivering a brochure from a magazine system to a brochure conveyorsystem are defined by the dependent claims. In a preferred embodiment ofthe invention, two groups of cooperating withdrawal and transfer beltsare provided, between which a stationary ejector element is disposed. Asa result, in the ejection position of the apparatus, reliable ejectionof the defective brochure is brought about, since in the ejectionposition, the stationary ejector element plunges between the two pivotedwithdrawal and transfer belts.

DRAWINGS

One exemplary embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawing andwill be described in further detail below. Shown are:

FIG. 1, part of a cardboard box making machine in a simplifiedperspective view;

FIG. 2, the apparatus of the invention in a simplified perspective view;and

FIGS. 3 and 4, the apparatus of FIG. 2 in side views, during variousoperating states.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT

In FIG. 1, part of a cardboard box making machine 10 is shown thatserves to insert packaged material, not shown, together with brochuresor package inserts 1 into folding boxes, also not shown. Inside theframe 11 of the cardboard box making machine 10, part of a first feedersystem 12 for the packaged material can be seen, along with a brochureconveyor system 13, which is embodied as a revolving, endless chain,with brochure tongs 14 for the package inserts 1, the tongs beingdisposed at equal intervals from one another. A brochure device 15 forkeeping the package inserts 1 on hand is shown in the region of theframe 11.

The brochure device 15 has a magazine 16 for the package inserts 1, inwhich the package inserts 1 are kept on hand, in the form of flatblanks. By means of the brochure device 15, the individual packageinserts 1 are gradually fed out of the magazine 16 and folded, by meansof a folder 17 located in the lower region of the brochure device 15, insuch a way as to produce package inserts 1 folded for instance instriplike form, and additionally prefolded in U-shaped fashion so thatthe package insert 1, prefolded in a U, can be placed around thepackaged product. A brochure device 15 as described thus far is alreadyknown.

A transfer device 20 serves to transfer the prefolded package inserts 1gradually out of the folder 17 of the brochure device 15 to the brochuretongs 14 of the brochure conveyor system 13.

The transfer device 20 of the invention, shown in further detail inFIGS. 2 through 4, has a first pair 21 of two cooperating conveyor belts22, 23, and a second pair 24, also of two cooperating conveyor belts 25,26, which pairs are driven continuously by means of a common drivemechanism. The respective conveyor belts 22, 25 on the one hand and 23,26 on the other are embodied identically as endless belts and serve totake over the package inserts 1 from the folder 17 in a takeover region27 dispense into the brochure tongs 14. The conveyance of the packageinserts 1 from the takeover region 27 to the transfer region 28 iseffected by feeding the package inserts 1, between the runs facing oneanother of the conveyor belts 22, 23 and 25, 26, by means of flushcontact with the runs.

The conveyor belts 22, 23 and 25, 26 are disposed in stationary fashionon a conveyor belt support 30. The conveyor belts 22, 25 are guidedabout a plurality of deflection wheels 31 through 35. The deflectionwheel 31 is disposed near the takeover region 27, and the deflectionwheel 32 is disposed near the transfer region 28. The deflection wheel33 is disposed approximately in the center between the two deflectionwheels 31 and 32. While the two deflection wheels 31 and 32 are disposedapproximately vertically one under the other and form a first, nearlyvertical conveyor path or conveyor segment 36 for the package inserts 1,the deflection wheel 32 is laterally offset from the deflection wheel33, forming a second conveyor segment 37, inclined from the vertical,for the package inserts 1.

The other two conveyor belts 23, 26 are likewise guided about fivedeflection wheels 38 through 42. While one deflection wheel 38 isdisposed somewhat below the deflection wheel 31 in the region of thetakeover region 27, the deflection wheel 39 is disposed approximately atthe level of the deflection wheel 32 in the region of the transferregion 28. What is essential is that the deflection wheel 39 issupported in a lever 43. The lever 43 is in turn supported pivotably ina shaft 44 approximately at the level of the deflection wheel 33. Thepivoting of the lever 43 is effected by means of a pneumatic cylinder45, which is braced on the conveyor belt support 30.

FIG. 3 shows the position of the lever 43 and of the two conveyor belts23, 26 in which the transfer device 20 conveys package inserts 1 thathave been properly folded. It can be seen that the lever 43 has beenpivoted such that the conveyor belts 22 and 25 on the one hand and 23and 26 on the other rest on one another between the takeover region 27and the transfer region 28, on the side toward the package insert 1, andfeed the package insert 1 along the first conveyor segment 36 and thesecond conveyor segment 37. In FIG. 3, the package insert 1 has just nowreached the transfer region 28, and from there it is taken over bybrochure tongs 14 of the brochure conveyor system 13.

To enable ejecting defective package inserts 1 from the transfer device20, the two pairs 21, 24 of conveyor belts 22, 23, 25, 26 are spacedapart from one another, as can be seen best from FIG. 2. An ejectiondevice is provided, in the form of a tublike discard bin 46. The discardbin 46 has a cutout 47 in the region between the conveyor belts 22, 26.The two portions 48, 49 of the discard bin 46 that laterally define thecutout 47 are, as can be seen from FIGS. 3 and 4, bent obliquelysomewhat out of the vertical and extend to near the conveyor belts 22,25.

FIG. 4 shows the ejection position of the transfer device 20, in whichthe lever 43 has been pivoted, compared to the position shown in FIG. 3,into a nearly vertical position, so that the two conveyor belts 23, 26are spaced apart from the conveyor belts 22, 25 in the region betweenthe deflection wheel 33 and the transfer region 28. A defective packageinsert 1, in the position of the lever 43 shown in FIG. 4, is thusconveyed along the first conveyor segment 36, whereupon, by gravity,after moving past the deflection wheel 33, it drops virtually verticallydownward along a third conveyor segment 50, and in the process isengaged by the portions 48, 49 of the discard bin 46. Once it has alsomoved past the deflection wheel 39, it reaches the tublike region of thediscard bin 46 by gravity and as a result of its kinetic energy and fromthere it can be removed by hand.

1-6. (canceled)
 7. An apparatus (20) for delivering a brochure (1) froma magazine system (15) to a brochure conveyor system (13), the apparatuscomprising at least two endless withdrawal and transfer belts (22, 23,25, 26), whose runs are in flush contact for conveying the brochure (1),and in a first deflection region (27) of the withdrawal and transferbelts (22, 23, 25, 26), a brochure (1) being transferred is taken overfrom the magazine system (15) and, in a second deflection region (28),the brochure is delivered from the withdrawal and transfer belts (22,23, 25, 26) to the brochure conveyor system (13), and means pivotablysupporting at least one of the withdrawal and transfer belts (23, 26)for creating an alternative conveyor path for ejecting the brochure (1),in which position the at least two withdrawal and transfer belts (22,23, 25, 26) are at least partly no longer in flush contact with oneanother.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7, comprising two pairs (21, 24) ofconveyor belts, each with two cooperating withdrawal and transfer belts(22, 23, 25, 26) the two pairs (21, 24) being spaced apart from oneanother, and a stationary ejector element (46) between the two pairs(21, 24) of conveyor belts, the two withdrawal and transfer belts (23,26) that have been pivoted into the ejection position cooperating withthe stationary ejector element.
 9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein ofeach two withdrawal and transfer belts (22, 23, 25, 26) forming one pair(21, 24), one withdrawal and transfer belt (22, 25) is driven in astationary path, and wherein a portion of the path of the otherwithdrawal and transfer belt (23, 26) is pivotable.
 10. The apparatus ofclaim 8, wherein of each two withdrawal and transfer belts (22, 23, 25,26) forming one pair (21, 24), one withdrawal and transfer belt (22, 25)is driven in a stationary path, and wherein a portion of the path of theother withdrawal and transfer belt (23, 26) is pivotable.
 11. Theapparatus of claim 9, wherein the belt driven in a stationary path isguided, on the side toward the brochure (1), between deflection wheels(31, 32) in the two takeover regions (27, 28) about one additionaldeflection wheel (33); wherein between the first takeover region (27)and the additional deflection wheel (33), an approximately verticallydisposed first conveyor segment (36), and between the additionaldeflection wheel (33) and the second takeover region (28) a second,obliquely disposed conveyor segment (37), are formed; and wherein thepivotable withdrawal and transfer belt (23, 26) is disposed pivotably atthe level of the additional deflection wheel (33), so that in theoperating position, the two withdrawal and transfer belts (22, 23, 25,26) that cooperate with one another are operatively connected via bothconveyor segments (36, 37), and in the ejection position the pivotablewithdrawal and transfer belt (23, 26), beyond the additional deflectionwheel (33), has a vertically disposed ejection portion (50), in whichthe pivotable withdrawal and transfer belt (23, 26) is spaced apart fromthe stationary withdrawal and transfer belt (22, 25).
 12. The apparatusof claim 10, wherein the belt driven in a stationary path is guided, onthe side toward the brochure (1), between deflection wheels (31, 32) inthe two takeover regions (27, 28) about one additional deflection wheel(33); wherein between the first takeover region (27) and the additionaldeflection wheel (33), an approximately vertically disposed firstconveyor segment (36), and between the additional deflection wheel (33)and the second takeover region (28) a second, obliquely disposedconveyor segment (37), are formed; and wherein the pivotable withdrawaland transfer belt (23, 26) is disposed pivotably at the level of theadditional deflection wheel (33), so that in the operating position, thetwo withdrawal and transfer belts (22, 23, 25, 26) that cooperate withone another are operatively connected via both conveyor segments (36,37), and in the ejection position the pivotable withdrawal and transferbelt (23, 26), beyond the additional deflection wheel (33), has avertically disposed ejection portion (50), in which the pivotablewithdrawal and transfer belt (23, 26) is spaced apart from thestationary withdrawal and transfer belt (22, 25).
 13. The apparatus ofclaim 11, wherein the pivotable withdrawal and transfer belt (23, 26),at the level of the additional deflection wheel (33), further comprisesa pivoting mechanism (43, 44) driven by a pneumatic cylinder (45). 14.The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the pivotable withdrawal and transferbelt (23, 26), at the level of the additional deflection wheel (33),further comprises a pivoting mechanism (43, 44) driven by a pneumaticcylinder (45).
 15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the verticallydisposed ejection portion (50) discharges into a discard bin (46) fordefective brochures (1), and the brochures (1) pass from the ejectionportion (50) into the discard bin (46) by gravity and by their ownkinetic energy.
 16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the verticallydisposed ejection portion (50) discharges into a discard bin (46) fordefective brochures (1), and the brochures (1) pass from the ejectionportion (50) into the discard bin (46) by gravity and by their ownkinetic energy.